The  Work  of  the  Farmer 
and  of  the  Railroad 
in  Minnesota 


HOWARD  ELLIOTT 
PRESIDENT,  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY 


ADDRESS 


BEFORE  THE 

MINNESOTA  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY 
AT  THE  STATE  CAPITOL 
ST.  PAUL,  MINN. 

January  9, 1912 


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The  Work  of  the  Farmer 

and  of  the  Railroad 
in  Minnesota 

BY 

HOWARD  ELLIOTT 
PRESIDENT,  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILWAY 


ADDRESS 

BEFORE  THE 

MINNESOTA  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY 


AT  THE  STATE  CAPITOL 
ST.  PAUL,  MINN. 
January  9, 1912 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/workoffarmerofraOOelli 


The  Work  of  the  Farmer  and 
of  the  Railroad  in 
Minnesota 


Farming  is  the  greatest  business  in  the  United  States!  In 
this  great  North  Star  State,  rich  in  natural  wealth  and  resources, 
other  forms  of  business  have  grown,  but  agriculture  has  always 
been  the  most  important  occupation  and  will  continue  to  be  if 
the  State  is  to  reach  its  destiny  as  a place  where  the  highest 
type  of  man  and  woman  and  the  best  type  of  citizen  will  be 
developed. 

Importance  of  The  meetings  of  this  Society,  formed  to  improve 
Agricultural  the  methods  of  farming  and  to  carry  on  the 

Society  great  annual  State  Fair,  have  a marked  influ- 

ence upon  the  business  of  farming,  upon  which 
the  prosperity  of  Minnesota  so  largely  depends.  These  meetings 
should  be  most  helpful  in  pointing  the  way  toward  better 
methods  of  agriculture,  toward  increasing  and  making  more 
profitable  the  production  from  the  soil,  and  toward  making  life 
on  the  farm  more  attractive  to  young  men  and  young  women. 

Any  man  who  is  not  himself  a farmer,  or 
an  expert  on  agriculture,  must  necessarily  feel 
great  hesitation  in  addressing  this  Society, 
and  my  justification  for  accepting  your  invi- 
tation is  that  I represent  a business  which  is  very  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  best  development  of  agriculture  and  is  much  in- 


Interdependence 
of  Farming 
and  Railroads 


3 


terested  in  doing  all  that  it  can  in  reason  to  promote  that  great 
business,  as  well  as  all  others  in  this  State. 

Farming  is  an  older  business  than  transportation,  but  the 
business  I represent  is  also  old  and  began  as  soon  as  the  tiller 
of  the  soil  produced  more  than  he  could  use  himself  and  there- 
fore sought  to  improve  his  condition  by  exchanging  some  of  the 
things  of  which  he  had  too  much  for  other  things  that  he  needed. 

Agriculture,  however,  has  not  always  preceded  the  railroad  in 
the  western  states ; on  many  occasions  the  railroad  struck  out  be- 
fore there  was  much  farming  and  opened  up  the  country.  Since 
the  early  ’60s  agriculture  and  transportation,  both  of  equal  impor- 
tance to  the  country  and  state,  have  worked  side  by  side  in  bring- 
ing about  the  development  and  use  of  the  land,  of  which  much 
that  should  yield  today  a comfortable  income  and  afford  a health- 
ful life  to  settlers  is  still  unused,  and  much  of  which,  sad  to  say, 
is  unwisely  and  ineffectively  used. 

Railroad  The  first  railroad  locomotive  was  brought  to  Minne- 
Growth  in  sota,  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  river,  early  in  1862, 
Minnesota  landed  on  the  levee  at  Saint  Paul  and  moved 
over  1,400  feet  of  track  to  a storage  shed.  At 
that  time  the  state  had  about  200,000  people.  A period  of 
hard  times  was  slowly  drawing  to  a close,  so  pronounced 
that  two  years  before  the  then  Governor,  Alexander  Ramsey, 
one  of  the  strong  men  of  Minnesota,  had  set  an  example  for 
economy  not  often  remembered  now,  and  more  rarely  prac- 
ticed, by  cutting  his  own  yearly  salary  from  $2,500  to  $1,500 
and  recommending  a like  reduction  to  other  state  officers. 

The  demand  of  the  people  for  railroads  to  develop  the  State 
was  strong.  Late  in  1862  the  Saint  Paul  & Pacific  built  from 
Saint  Paul  to  Saint  Anthony,  and  on  October  14th  was  ready 
for  business.  In  1863  two  companies  built  46^  miles,  and  in 
1864  three  companies  built  43R2  miles.  In  1870  the  State  had 
1,092  miles  of  railroad  and  439,706  people. 

In  those  years  the  hopes  of  the  people  of  Minnesota  centered 
about  the  construction  of  railroads  that  would  bring  the  country 
closer  to  the  small  towns  along  the  Mississippi  River  and  its 


4 


larger  tributaries;  and  also  open  up  a route  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 
In  a long  forgotten  report  made  by  the  Ronorable  Joseph  A. 
Wheelock  as  Commissioner  of  Statistics,  to  Governor  Ramsey,  in 
i860,  is  found  the  following: 


Destroying  “ Assuming  the  development  of  the  im- 

Minnesota’s  mense  extent  of  fertile  country  tributary 
Isolation  Minnesota  in  British  America,  with  its 

commercial  radius  extended  by  steam  nav- 
igation through  the  rivers  which  flow  over  her  borders, 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  we  have  seen  this  young  state 
advancing  by  the  resistless  pressure  of  physical  and 
social  laws,  to  the  first  position  among  the  inland  states 
of  the  continent,  commanding  without  a rival  a com- 
merce equal  to  all  the  commerce  of  the  present  states 
of  the  Northwest.  Given  one  step  more  in  this 
development — a railroad  to  the  Pacific, 
Necessity  of  based  on  the  termini  of  inland  naviga- 

Transportation  tion  on  Lake  Superior  and  the  Missis- 

sippi, an  event  close  at  hand  among 
the  reasonable  probabilities  of  the  future — and  Minne- 
sota, the  entrepot  of  all  the  transmundane  commerce 
which  will  flow  through  that  narrow  channel  to 
break  bulk  upon  her  water  lines,  must  occupy  a 
position  without  a parallel  in  any  State  in  the  World. 


* * * To  make  Minnesota  the  toll-gate  of  this  vast 

trade,  the  focus  of  distribution  through  all  her  radiat- 
ing lines  of  railroad  and  navigation,  to  the  east  and 
west  and  south  and  north , for  the  incalculable  com- 
merce which  a Pacific  Railway  would  pour  into  her 
lap ; to  enthrone  her  at  the  great  ‘ parting  of  the  waters’ 
as  the  central  market  of  exchange  for  the  confluent 
treasures  of  Europe  and  Asia  and  America — such  is 
the  sublime  destiny  which  develops  itself  for  the  future 
of  this  young  state,  as  the  crowning  consequence  and 
logical  consummation  of  existing  facts  and  tendencies 
in  the  physical  and  commercial  world.” 


This  enthusiastic  language  of  one  who  lived  to  see  much 
that  he  prophesied  come  to  pass,  indicates  that  the  early  pioneers 
realized  full  well  the  necessity  of  adequate  transportation.  Mr. 
Wheelock  pointed  out  in  his  report  that  the  estimated  imports 
of  England  and  America  from  countries  bordering  on  the  Pacific 
was  then  $200,000,000  a year.  This  seemed  a gigantic  figure, 
indicating  the  great  commerce  that  he  thought  would  pour  into 
and  through  Minnesota  when  a Pacific  railroad  enabled  it  to 
move.  Yet,  Minnesota  last  year  produced  crops  which,  with  the 
value  of  the  live  stock  and  the  poultry  and  butter  output,  were 
more  than  twice  this  figure,  or  $431,344,725. 


Population  Expands  The  population  of  less  than  200,000  in 
With  Minnesota  when  the  construction  of  the 

Railroads  first  raqroacjs  began,  has  increased,  with 

the  expansion  of  railroad  facilities, 
to  a total  of  2,075,000.  Minnesota  had  no  railroads  in  i860,  but 
has  8,814.27  miles  now  and  stands  eighth  in  miles  of  railroad 
among  the  states. 


This  large  railroad  mileage,  so  absolutely  essential  to  the 
highest  development  of  agriculture  and  to  the  growth  of  the 
State,  gives  employment  to  about  62,000  people,  paying  annually 
more  than  $36,000,000  in  wages.  On  the  conservative  basis  of 
four  persons  supported  by  each  wage-earner,  this  means  that 
248,000  people  are  supported  directly  by  the  operation  of  the 
Minnesota  railroads.  This  is  about  one-eighth  of  the  population 
of  the  State,  and  is  more  than  the  population  of  the  prosperous 
city  of  St.  Paul. 


How  Railroads  For  the  year  ending  July  31,  1911,  the  State 
Aid  Support  taxes  received  from  the  various  counties,  as  their 
Of  State  contribution  to  the  support  of  the  state  govern- 

ment and  institutions,  were  $4,611,597,  while  the 
railroads  paid  $3,896,091,  almost  as  much  from  a business  which 
represented  only  one-eighth  of  the  population,  as  was  paid  by  the 
other  seven-eighths.  Surely  this  was  a very  liberal  contribution 
from  but  one  form  of  business. 


6 


Creating  New  Now,  not  only  the  one  Pacific  railroad  dreamed 
Trade  of  by  Mr.  Wheelock,  but  three,  connect  Min- 

Routes  nesota  with  the  Pacific,  while  other  routes,  made 

up  of  two  or  more  railroads,  furnish  additional 
facilities.  Mr.  Wheelock  took  an  optimistic  view  that  in  time 
the  products  of  the  Orient  would  find  their  way  across  Minne- 
sota to  the  eastern  markets.  Shipments  of  Chinese  and  Japanese 
silks,  tea,  matting,  hemp  and  other  articles  from  the  Orient  ar- 
rive at  Pacific  Coast  ports  and  are  carried  east  through  this  state, 
helping  the  railroads  in  a small  way  to  maintain  themselves  so 
as  to  care  for  the  domestic  business  of  importance  to  the  farmer 
and  merchant  of  this  State. 

How  Law  Neither  Mr.  Wheelock,  nor  others  who  believed 
Hampers  jn  the  growth  of  this  great  country,  foresaw  that 
Commerce  the  politician  (not  the  Statesman)  would  attempt 
to  so  frame  the  laws  in  this  country  that  the  rail- 
roads could  not  participate  freely  in  any  business  coming  from 
the  Orient  to  the  United  States,  or  sent  back  to  the  Orient 
from  Minnesota,  without  so  disturbing  all  other  rates  that 
they  could  not  afford  to  engage  in  the  business ; nor  did 
anyone  imagine  that  a public  policy  would  be  seriously  con- 
sidered which  would  tend  to  prevent  Minnesota  and  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  from  reaching  the  Pacific  Coast  with  their  products 
in  competition  with  the  same  articles  produced  east  of  the  Al- 
leghany Mountains.  And  yet  that  is  what  is  confronting  the 
great  Mississippi  Valley,  with  its  varied  industries,  today.  Unless 
the  people  rise  up  and  demand  of  their  Congressmen  and  of 
the  Commerce  Commission  that  their  railroads  have  the  right 
to  place  the  products  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  in  the  Orient  in  competition  with  the  same  articles 
produced  elsewhere,  without  forcing  the  railroads  to  reduce  all 
of  their  intermediate  rates,  that  section  of  the  country  will  be 
closed  to  our  merchants  and  manufacturers  and  the  policy  sug- 
gested will  tend  to  draw  a circle  around  Minnesota,  beyond  which 
she  cannot  trade. 


7 


Pacific  Coast  Those  who  say  that  to  make  a lower  rate  to  the 
anc*  Pacific  Coast  than  to  intermediate  points  creates 

Panama  ana  an  unjust  discrimination  against  interior  points 
ignore  the  fact  that  the  Pacific  Coast,  with  ocean 
transportation,  is  independent  of  transcontinental  railroads  for 
the  movement  of  freight  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard;  and  also — 
which  is  more  important — is  independent  of  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley as  a source  of  supply  for  many  manufactured  articles.  Near- 
ly all  that  the  Pacific  Coast  needs  may  be  shipped  from  the 
Atlantic  States  by  the  Panama  Canal  or  may  be  imported  from 
foreign  countries,  and  whenever  the  railroads  make  the  rate  to 
the  Pacific  Coast  which  is  necessary  to  equalize  the  cost  of  these 
commodities  handled  by  ocean,  they  only  change  the  source  of 
supply  and  substitute  one  means  of  transportation  for  another; 
the  difference  between  the  cost  of  any  commodity  delivered  at 
the  Pacific  Coast  or  at  some  interior  point  would  be  the  same 
whether  the  railroad  entered  into  competition  with  the  ocean 
carrier  or  withdrew  entirely  from  the  business. 


Increase  in 

Railroad 

Mileage 


The  great  advance  in  agriculture  in  Minnesota  has 
been  the  natural  result  of  the  building  of  rail- 
roads. In  i860  the  whole  United  States  had  only 
30,626  miles  of  railroad.  In  fifty  years  the  miles 
of  railroad  have  increased,  according  to  the  Commerce  Com- 
mission, to  236,869  miles,  and  the  miles  of  all  tracks — second, 
third  and  fourth  tracks,  sidings  and  yards — to  342,351  miles. 
In  the  23  years  ending  in  1910,  the  number  of  tons  of  freight 
handled  increased  257  per  cent,  and  the  number  of  tons  handled 
one  mile  324  per  cent.  The  mileage  of  freight  trains  increased 
80  per  cent,  and  of  passenger  trains  112  per  cent. 


Without  this  great  growth  in  trackage  and  in  work  done  on 
the  tracks  the  produce  of  the  farms  in  Minnesota  and  in  other 
states  could  not  have  been  marketed  and  farm  development 
would  have  been  much  less  rapid  and  confined  quite  largely  to 
regions  where  wagon  or  water  haul  would  reach  a consumer. 


8 


Falling  Rates  In  spite  of  the  great  increase  in  wages,  taxes 
Save  much  and  the  price  of  many  classes  of  material, 

to  Shippers  freight  rates  have  not  increased,  or  even  re- 

mained stationary,  but  have  dropped  approx- 
imately 25  per  cent.  The  farmer  and  shipper  obtains  as  much 
freight  transportation  today  for  $3.00  as  he  received  in  1888  for 
$4.00.  On  the  Northern  Pacific,  only  one  of  many  roads,  the 
fall  of  rates  has  been  such  that  if  freight  shippers  and  passengers 
had  paid,  in  every  year  since  1885,  the  same  rates  as  in  that 
year,  the  additional  revenue  to  this  one  railroad  would  have 
been  $583,879,996.25.  This  very  large  (sum  represents  what 
has  been  saved  to  the  users  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  by  means 
of  reductions  in  rates,  which  have  been  very  largely  voluntary. 
It  is  equal  to  $63,986.84  for  every  day  during  that  twenty-five 
year  period.  A most  experienced  railroad  officer  estimates 
that  the  saving  to  the  purchasers  of  rail  transportation  in  the 
United  States  in  the  fifteen  years  from  1894  to  1909,  inclusive, 
amounted  to  $1,300,000  a day,  or  $7,144,343,000  in  all,  which 
saving  has  been  possible  because  of  the  effective  work  done  by 
the  railroad  owner,  officer  and  employe  in  creating  and  operating 
the  American  railroad  machine. 


Wagon  Haul  Thirty  years  ago  in  Minnesota  grain  was  hauled 
vs>.  60  miles  by  wagon  to  some  of  the  river  towns 

Rail  Haul  and  cjtjes  having  a railroad.  Today,  nearly 

all  the  farm  produce  comes  direct  from  the  field 
to  a nearby  railway  station.  Where  the  farming  area  was  form- 
erly limited  by  the  length  of  wagon  haul,  the  railroad  has  now 
made  it  possible  to  use  nearly  all  of  the  agricultural  land  and 
in  some  of  the  Minnesota  counties  many  townships  are  served 
by  two  or  more  railroads. 

Over  the  entire  United  States  the  same  development  fol- 
lowed the  building  of  new  railroads,  and  farm  output  has  in- 
creased so  rapidly  that  in  1910  it  had  a value  of  nearly  $9,000,- 
000,000,  and  had  nearly  doubled  in  1 1 years.  The  natural  re- 
sult of  this  great  railroad  expansion  has  been  a change  in  farm- 
ing conditions,  an  increase  in  land  values  and  a decrease  in 
the  amount  of  free  land  that  can  be  obtained  from  the  Govern- 
ment. 


9 


Responsibility  Coincident  with  the  great  development  of  agri- 

t^ie  culture  and  transportation  the  population  of  the 

Farmer  . , , . 1 ^ , . 

country  has  been  growing  at  the  rate  of  2 i-io 

per  cent  each  year  and  growing  faster  in  the 

cities  than  in  the  country.  There  has  been  thrown  upon  the 

farmer  a greater  responsibility  than  before,  of  increasing  his 

production  in  order  to  feed  the  increasing  population. 

Soil  experts  pointed  out  long  ago  the  possibility  of  exhaust- 
ing new  and  rich  land  by  poor  farming,  and  during  the  past 
few  years  the  states,  business  men,  the  State  and  Federal  Govern- 
ment and  the  railroads  have  all  been  working  closely  with  the 
farmer,  trying  to  improve  the  methods  and  increase  the  pro- 
duction. 

National  Welfare  The  farmer  is  under  the  obligation  to  the 

depends  on  whole  population  of  the  United  States  of 

gricu  ure  making  the  best  use  of  his  land,  because  the 

welfare  of  the  country  depends  very  largely 
upon  his  efforts  and  its  people  must  be  fed  from  the  products 
of  his  acres.  There  is  much  talk  about  efficiency  and  inefficiency 
in  the  railroad  business  and  in  other  forms  of  business.  The 
railroads  are  trying  hard  to  improve  and  are  working  steadily  in 
order  to  give  safer  and  better  service  to  the  public.  There  is  the 
same  necessity  of  improvement  in  farm  methods  and  production. 


Costs,  Profits  One  of  the  most  important  facts  shown  in  the 
anc*  # investigations  of  the  Minnesota  state  agricultural 

Production  school  into  farm  costs  and  profits  is  that  there 
is  great  variation  in  cost  of  operation  and  profit 
balance  in  the  same  districts  and  on  adjoining  farms.  Only  the 
best  managed  farms  are  making  the  profits  that  are  believed 
to  be  possible  for  all  the  well  improved  farms  of  the  state.  North 
Dakota  led  the  United  States  in  wheat  acreage  in  1910,  with 
Minnesota  second  and  South  Dakota  fourth.  The  combined 
acreage  of  this  crop  for  these  three  states  was  more  than  three 
times  that  of  Germany,  more  than  nine  times  that  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  greater  than  Argentina  or  France.  In  1909  the 


10 


wheat  acreage  of  the  three  states  was  1,151,000  less  than  in 
1910,  and  the  production  was  232,394,000  bushels.  The  farm  value 
of  this  crop  was  $216,647,000. 


System  and  Suppose  the  yield  per  acre  had  been  that  of 
Organization  Germany  for  the  same  year,  or  30.5  bushels,  in- 

in  Farming  stead  of  less  than  half  of  this,  there  would  then 

have  been  475,800,000  bushels  to  sell  and  the 
tri-state  farmers  would  have  received  $443,731,000,  or  an  in- 
creased amount  on  the  crop  of  a single  year  of  $227,084,000. 

It  may  not  be  possible  to  at  once  raise  the  production  of 
these  states  to  the  German  average,  but  no  reasonable  man  can 
say  that  it  is  not  possible  to  raise  the  standard  of  farm  efficiency 
and  thereby  materially  increase  the  average  yield.  An  increase 
in  yield  of  one  bushel  per  acre  on  the  basis  of  the  acreage  of 
1909  would  have  added  $14,456,000.  to  the  farmers’  returns. 
This  very  large  sum  is  the  premium  for  every  bushel  of  increase 
in  the  average  yield.  From  $10,000,000  to  $15,000,000,  de- 
pending on  the  price  of  wheat,  is  annually  lost  to  the  farmers 
of  these  three  states,  for  each  bushel  by  which  the  average  yield 
falls  short  of  the  possible  yield. 


Investment  Upon  the  railroad  owner,  officer  and  employe  falls 
Needs  of  the  duty  of  keeping  the  railroads  of  the  country 
in  condition  to  move  the  commerce  of  the  country, 
and  of  adding  to  them  yearly  at  a rate  which  will 
take  care  of  the  demands  of  the  people.  This  task  means  an  ad- 
dition of  between  $500,000,000  and  $600,000,000  a year  of  new 
capital. 


This  great  sum  will  not  be  forthcoming  unless  people  who 
put  money  into  railroads  feel  that  their  investment  is  safe,  and 
that  they  will  get  a return  somewhat  in  line  with  what  is 
received  from  other  forms  of  business  in  the  same  territory. 
It  is  clearly  to  the  interest  of  the  farmer  to  help  to  so  frame 
the  laws  of  the  land  that  capital  will  freely  invest  in  railroads, 
because  the  farmer  needs  the  best  transportation  and  the  widest 
possible  market  for  his  products. 


11 


Railroad  American  railroads — capitalized  at  less  than 

Capitalization  $60,000  a mile,  while  those  of  England  repre- 
sent $275,000  a mile;  those  of  France  $139,000 
a mile;  and  those  of  Belgium  (owned  by  the  government)  $181,- 
000  a mile — produce  a larger  output  of  transportation,  carry 
more  passengers  and  freight,  for  less  money,  than  any  in  the 
world.  Freight  rates  are  lowest  in  the  United  States,  and  the 
character  of  passenger  and  freight  service  rendered  the  public 
is  not  excelled  in  any  country  in  the  world. 

Opportunity  The  American  farmer  can  do  as  well.  With 

for  Higher  the  rich  sojj  Gf  ^-pis  country,  he  can  lead  the 

Farm  Efficiency  , , • , . ~~  . , , 

J world  in  crop  production,  ini  efficient  farm 

work,  and  in  practical  results  from  the  stand- 
point of  money  returns.  When  such  a condition  comes,  ex- 
perts from  abroad  will  visit  the  United  States  to  study  Amer- 
ican farm  methods,  just  as  they  have  been  coming  for  many 
years  to  study  American  railroad  methods. 

It  is  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  farm  yields,  improving 
rural  prosperity  and  encouraging  the  better  and  more  general 
use  of  the  land  of  this  State,  that  railroads,  banks,  the  State 
and  its  educational  department,  organizations  of  commercial 
clubs  and  individuals  are  co-operating  with  the  farmer.  In  this 
work  there  is  no  direct  personal  profit  to  be  made  for  anyone 
except  the  farmer  himself,  but  its  objective  point  is  a bigger 
and  better  Minnesota  and  a greater  general  prosperity  in  which 
all  may  join. 

Co-operation — Co-operation  has  been  the  keystone  of  the  arch 
Keystone  in  the  development  of  business  in  America, 

of  Business  js  becoming  the  keystone  of  improvement  of 

farm  efficiency,  and  in  Minnesota  there  are  al- 
ready several  noteworthy  examples  of  farm  communities  working 
together  for  the  common  good. 

The  development  of  the  co-operative  creamery,  in  which  Min- 
nesota led,  has  helped  to  increase  the  output  of  dairy  products 
to  an  estimated  value  of  $55,000,000  a year,  and  is  easily  the  most 
important. 


12 


A co-operative  merchandising  experiment  at  Hanska  m 
Brown  County  has  been  successful  and  profitable. 

Co-operative  marketing  is  having  a very  interesting  develop- 
ment in  St.  Louis  county  under  the  direction  of  the  Duluth 
Commercal  Club.  Co-operative  marketing  of  eggs  through  an 
association  has  been  a success  at  Dassel,  in  Meeker  County, 
where  22,000  dozen  were  marketed  in  eight  months. 

The  eggs  were  graded  as  to  size  and  color  and  were  clean 
and  attractive,  each  bearing  a number.  The  work  of  packing 
was  done  by  the  farmers,  who  stood  behind  their  association 
and  its  guarantee  to  replace  any  egg  found  defective.  In  eight 
months  the  association  received  only  two  complaints. 

At  Barnum  a similar  egg-selling  association  on  the  co- 
operative plan  has  been  successful,  largely  increasing  the  ship- 
ment of  eggs,  guaranteeing  an  improved  quality,  and  bringing 
an  increased  price  to  its  members. 

The  American  railroads  pay  the  highest  wages  in 
the  world ; the  average  pay  in  this  country  being 
$668  a year,  as  compared  with  $382  in  Germany, 
$251  in  England,  and  $260  in  France  and  Austria. 
Although  American  railroads  pay  more  to  labor  than  other 
countries  do,  their  service  to  business  is  second  to  none  and  their 
freight  rates  are  such  that  they  haul  2,000  pounds,  nearly  a wagon 
load  of  freight,  100  miles  for  only  75  cents.  The  charge  for  the 
same  service  in  England  in  $2.80,  in  France  $2.20,  in  Germany 
$1.64,  and  in  Austria  $2.30. 

Only  by  the  highest  quality  of  management,  the  greatest 
energy  and  most  effective  methods  and  the  closest  supervision 
of  all  costs,  could  such  a result  be  obtained. 

To  bring  farm  production  and  profits  to  the  highest  level  and 
to  overcome  the  various  difficulties  he  faces,  the  farmer  must 
utilize  every  new  method,  encourage  the  close  co-operation  of 
all  who  can  aid  him,  and  strive  for  greater  efficiency  and  for  the 
highest  quality  of  output. 


Railroad 
Wages  and 
Rates 


13 


Better  Farming  In  successful  farming,  as  in  any  business,  there 
in  Minnesota  must  be  system  and  organization.  There  is 
no  longer  any  question  but  what  corn  can 
be  successfully  grown  anywhere  in  the  State 
of  Minnesota,  including  the  Northern  counties.  The  fact  that 
corn  can  be  and  is  grown  does  not  in  itself  mean  successful 
farming.  That  corn  means  beef  is  a common  statement.  It 
ought  to  mean  hogs  as  well,  and  farmers  should  systematize 
their  methods  to  make  the  best  use  of  their  corn  and  get  out  of 
it  the  highest  possible  profits. 

On  the  general  dairy  or  stock  farm  there  is  some  unavoidable 
waste  in  handling  and  feeding  grain,  and  a herd  of  hogs  may  be 
maintained  on  a farm  where  other  live  stock  is  kept,  with  little 
additional  expense  for  shelter,  care  and  food,  over  what  would  be 
required  in  connection  with  the  other  farm  animals. 

Avoiding  Waste  The  elimination  of  waste  ought  to  be  as  much 
and  Improving  the  constant  aim  of  the  farmer  as  of  a manu- 
Methods  facturer  or  railroad  manager.  A herd  of  hogs 

following  the  cattle  can  be  maintained  on 
what  would  otherwise  be  partially  wasted.  This  is  an  item  of  so 
great  importance  as  to  demand  thoughtful  consideration. 

Six  cent  pork  can  be  produced  at  a profit  if  proper  use  is 
made  of  forage  crops  and  dairy  by-products.  Experiment  sta- 
tion results  show  that  a bushel  of  corn  when  properly  fed  will 
produce  twelve  to  fourteen  pounds  of  pork.  Hence  when  hogs 
are  six  cents  per  pound  there  is  realized  about  80  cents  a bushel 
for  corn. 

Following  is  a quotation  from  Superintendent  A.  D.  Wilson, 
University  Farm  of  Minnesota,  in  the  “Minnesota  Stockman”: 


Minnesota  as 
a Live  Stock 
State 


“Minnesota  has  not  made  the  progress  in 
the  live  stock  industry  that  those  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  the  State  might  wish.  In 
fact , the  State  is  considerably  behind  some 
of  the  adjoining  states  in  the  amount  and  quality  of 
live  stock  kept.  Wisconsin  has  about  the  same  amount 
of  live  stock  that  we  have ; but  Iowa  has  more  than 
twice  as  many  cattle,  and  six  times  as  many  hogs. 


14 


“With  the  relative  amounts  of  stock  given  in  the 
above  paragraph,  the  average  income  per  farm  in  Iowa, 
in  1900,  was  about  $1,600;  while  for  the  same  year  the 
average  income  per  farm  in  Minnesota  was  but  $1,000. 

This  shows  that  Iowa  farms,  with  twice  as  many  cattle 
as  were  kept  on  Minnesota  farms,  and  six  times  as 
many  hogs,  brought  in  60  per  cent  more  income  than 
did  the  Minnesota  farms  ” 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Minnesota 
plants  about  1,500,000  acres  of  corn  each  year,  and  over  10, ♦ 
000,000  acres  of  small  grain.  Iowa  produces  over  9,000,000 
acres  of  corn  each  year  and  about  5,000,000  acres  of  grain.  In 
Iowa  the  farmers  fully  realize  the  importance  of  dairying  and 
that  the  two  classes  of  stock  that  make  an  especially  profitable 
combination  are  dairy  cattle  and  swine. 


Helping  The  farmer  has  done  a great  work  for  the  United 
States  and  for  Minnesota,  but  he  has  a still  greater 
work  and  responsibility  before  him.  He  has,  how- 
ever, the  great  advantage  of  having  nearly  all  other 
forms  of  business  anxious  to  help  him  in  any  reasonable  manner. 
The  railroad  owner,  manager  and  employe  are  all  trying  to  under- 
stand better  the  difficulties  and  importance  of  the  various  farm- 
ing problems. 

Should  not  some  of  the  same  spirit  be  shown  towards  the 
large  investment  represented  by  the  American  railroads  and  by 
the  8,814.27  miles  of  railroad  in  this  State,  the  safety  and  ade- 
quacy of  which  means  so  much  to  the  successful  development  of 
the  whole  State? 

Ample  Everyone  would  like  very  cheap  transporta- 

i^Vita^1*1^011  ti°n>  or  even  to  have  it  free;  but  everyone 

must  have  enough  transportation  or  business 
cannot  expand.  Enough  transportation  will 
not  be  provided  if  the  price  is  made  so  cheap  by  law  that  people 


15 


will  not  invest  their  money,  and  they  will  not  put  money  into 
railroads  any  more  than  they  will  into  any  other  form  of  business 
unless  they  have  a reasonable  chance  of  profit. 

In  this  State  there  has  been  a discussion  for  several  years 
about  rates,  both  freight  and  passenger,  and  the  questions  are 
not  yet  settled ; but  how  many  people  have  posted  themselves 
in  detail  so  as  to  form  an  accurate  judgment  about  the  justice 
of  the  question?  How  many  people  know  about  such  simple 
figures  as  these  taken  from  the  sworn  report  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  to  the  Railroad  Commission  of  this  State  for  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1911 : 


Passenger  Earnings  per  passenger  train  mile $1.49 

Earnings  Operating  expenses  for  all  trains  per  train  mile  1.77 

Difference  $ .28 


It  may  be  argued  that  it  is  not  fair  to  charge  to  passenger 
trains  the  average  cost  of  all  trains,  both  freight  and  passenger, 
although  passenger  trains  mean  great  expense  for  higher  grade 
tracks,  better  stations,  expensive  cars,  etc.,  but  dividing  the  ex- 
penses as  nearly  as  can  be  done  under  the  practice  commonly 


adopted  the  results  are  as  follows : 

Earnings  per  passenger  train  mile  in  Minnesota $1.49 

Expenses  1.04 


Difference  45 

Taxes  per  train  mile  in  Minnesota 06 

Interest  on  bonds  31 


Leaving  only  $ .08 

per  train  mile  to  pay  any  profit. 


On  the  basis  of  a similar  small  return  of  only  8 cents  per 
train  mile  the  earnings  of  the  Company  in  19 11  on  all  business 
would  have  produced  only  $3,485,819,  or  less  than  per  cent 
return  to  the  stockholders  of  the  Company.  These  few  figures 
show  that  passenger  service  is  not  contributing  its  fair  share 
towards  the  sum  necessary  to  pay  expenses,  taxes,  interest  and 


16 


a dividend  to  the  stockholders  and  encourage  investment  in 
those  improved  facilities  in  the  way  of  trains  and  stations  which 
all  of  us  would  like  to  have. 


It  may  be  urged  that  this  small  return  of  1^2  per  cent 
is  enough  because  the  property  is  over-capitalized.  The 
best  answer  to  this  is  that  in  a recent  searching  in- 
vestigation by  Governmental  authority  it  was  found  that  the  value 
of  the  property  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  Company  em- 
ployed in  its  transportation  business  was,  on  June  30,  1908, 
$452,666,489,  as  compared  with  securities  in  the  hands  of  the 
public  at  that  time  amounting  at  par  to  $405,225,575.29.  Since 
that  date  new  securities  amounting  to  $17,986,924.71  have  been 
issued  but  only  for  bona  fide  additions  to  the  property  costing 
much  more  than  that,  so  that  on  June  30,  1911,  the  securities 
in  the  hands  of  the  public  were  $423,212,500,  and  the  value  of 
the  property,  based  on  the  Government  figures  and  the  additions 
since,  was  $487,955,530. 

Eliminating,  therefore,  the  question  of  stocks  and  bonds,  it 
shows  that  the  earnings  on  the  basis  of  returns  from  passenger 
train  service  would  not  be  enough  to  pay  a fair  return  on  the 
value  of  the  property  as  given  by  the  Government. 


Railroads’  Railroads  are  great  buyers,  and  when  they  are 

Purchases  prosperous  buy  very  liberally.  For  example, 

Help  Business  ^he  coa]  purnecj  jn  Northern  Pacific  engines  last 
year  would  afford  a winter’s  fuel  supply  for  about 
175,000  families,  or  keep  warm  approximately  800,000  people, 
or  more  than  one-third  the  entire  population  of  the  State.  If 
this  coal  had  been  loaded  in  cars  of  50  tons  capacity,  it  would 
have  made  1,231  trains  of  40  cars  each,  or  a combined  train  373 
miles  long,  or  a train  that  would  have  a caboose  in  Minneapolis 
and  its  engine  30  miles  the  other  side  of  Jamestown. 


One  year’s  purchases  of  lumber,  including  ties,  would  have 
built  a plank  road  8 feet  wide  and  2 inches  thick,  in  a straight 
line  from  St.  Paul  to  Boston,  a distance  of  about  1,108  miles. 


The  two  illustrations  are  given  to  show  how  large  are  the 
transactions  of  one  railroad  in  the  conduct  of  its  business. 


17 


Railroad  Owners’  How  many  people  know,  for  example,  that 
Heavy  the 

owners  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  ap- 
Investment  proximately  25,000  in  all,  have  expended 

$203,000,000  in  the  last  10  years  in  additions, 
betterments  and  extensions  to  their  railroad,  all  the  way  from 
the  Twin  Cities  and  Lake  Superior  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  so  as  to 
furnish  the  people  along  the  line  with  adequate  facilities? 

This  very  large  sum  of  money,  equal  to  Mr.  Wheelock’s 
glowing  prediction  of  the  annual  commerce  adjacent  to  the 
Pacific  Coast,  was  expended  by  these  people  with  the  hope  and 
belief  that  there  would  be  such  a growth  of  business  and  such  a 
basis  of  rates  and  taxes  that  they  would  make  a good  return  and 
a return  somewhat  in  keeping  with  the  return  received  by  others 
in  the  same  country  who  invest  their  money,  time  and  energy  in 
other  forms  of  business. 


Railroad  a 
Factor  in  State 
Development 


of  it. 


These  25,000  owners  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
and  the  30,000  employes  of  that  Company  are 
an  important  factor  and  force  in  working  out 
the  future  of  Minnesota  and  the  states  west 
They  and  the  farmers  are  mutually  interested  in  being 


fair  to  each  other. 


What  is  true  about  the  amount  of  money  spent,  the  number 
of  owners  and  employes  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  is  true  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  about  other  railroads  in  this  State  and  in 
the  country  generally.  The  railroad  owner  and  employe  are 
trying  to  do  their  full  share  in  doing  the  work  needed  to  carry 
on  the  business  of  this  State  and  of  the  country. 

It  is  not  easy  for  the  farmer  to  get  the  best  results  even  with 
many  trying  to  help.  The  railroad  owner  and  employe  have 
their  difficulties  to  meet  in  trying  to  solve  the  problems  of 
furnishing  safe,  regular  and  sufficient  transportation  to  meet  the 
demands  of  a growing  State  like  Minnesota. 


18 


Practical  It  would  seem  as  if  better  results  could  be  ob- 
Co-operation  tained  for  all  forms  of  business — farming,  railroad- 
Needed  ing,  merchandising,  manufacturing  and  banking — 

if  all  pulled  together  and  did  not  attempt  to  come 
to  conclusions  about  business  methods  and  results  based  on 
half  knowledge  and  misleading  and  distorted  statements. 

“Truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail”  is  a true  saying  about  the 
moral  life  of  the  Nation,  and  in  due  time  it  will  prove  to  be  true 
about  the  business  life  of  the  Nation  in  spite  of  the  demagogue 
and  trouble-maker. 


Form  3886 


19 


